Ludwig Thoma was a poet and demagogue, man of letters and agitator.
Shortly before the 100th anniversary of his death, the city of Munich is very concerned about the dark side.
It is unclear how things will go on with the Thoma house in Tegernsee.
Tegernsee
- The desk, the hunting trophies, the Biedermeier room: in the house on the Tuften in Tegernsee, it looks as if Ludwig Thoma might be about to return. An honor for a writer who has been buried in the Rottach cemetery for almost exactly 100 years. Thoma lived in the house on Tegernsee for almost 14 years, from spring 1908 until his death on August 26, 1921. The aim of the Ludwig Thoma Foundation, founded in 1964, is to preserve the memory of the poet's work. which is administered by the city of Munich.
But with this memory one is having a hard time in the state capital at the moment.
In June, a commission even recommended renaming a Ludwig-Thoma-Strasse because the namesake not only wrote heart-warming "rascal stories" and the "Holy Night", but also anti-Semitic inflammatory articles of the worst kind, published in the
Miesbacher Anzeiger
.
The mayor Dieter Reiter fought off the renaming in July.
Future of Ludwig-Thoma-Haus: City of Munich is keeping a low profile
But as far as the continued operation of the museum Thoma House in Tegernsee is concerned, whether there will be guided tours and readings again after Corona: The city of Munich is very cautious about this question.
"The opinion-forming process has not yet been completed on the future of the house," said Matthias Kristlbauer, press spokesman for the city of Munich, without further explanation.
The foundation had the building extensively renovated in 2019 after the long-term property manager Irene Hausperger moved out.
Since May of this year, a property manager has been living under the newly covered roof again.
But the homepage has not been updated for a long time.
There it says that due to Corona unfortunately no viewing and event dates could be offered in the first half of 2021.
No reading in the Thoma-Haus during the Tegernsee Week
It is the most recent entry. According to Kristlbauer, “because of the ongoing pandemic”, no binding statement can yet be made about events in the second half of the year. The program of the Tegernsee Week, which takes place at the end of September / beginning of October in compliance with the Corona hygiene rules, does not include a reading in the Thoma House this time. "The readings are very popular and always full," says Birgit Halmbacher-Höplinger, organizer of the Tegernsee Week. But an event there would not have been possible in view of the Corona requirements. In addition to the artists, only five visitors are allowed into the room.
But that after the pandemic, guided tours, readings and music evenings will take place again like until 2019, does not seem to be certain.
The spokesman for the city leaves unanswered questions about the direction in which the future of the house is going, which committees deal with the strategy.
Cultural Association: Thinking about the turmoil of the artist Ludwig Thoma
Barbara Winkler, chairwoman of the Rottacher Kunst- und Kulturverein, can understand the reluctance.
Right now, on the 100th anniversary of his death, dealing with the homeland poet and agitator Thoma is being intensively discussed.
“You can't just look at the work blindly,” says Winkler.
At the end of his life, the artist got into anti-Semitic effusions.
The journalistic misconduct and also the “weird image of women” should be considered when commemorating.
Nevertheless, Winkler does not want to see the poet's memorial in the Rottach spa garden dismantled.
The work created by Quirin Roth shows Thoma with his friends Leo Slezak and Ludwig Ganghofer.
"Just think", that is what Winkler understands literally.
The bronze figure is an occasion to reflect on the contradictions, the disunity of the artist.
To erase it from memory would, in their opinion, not be the right way to go.
Unlike the 100th anniversary of Ludwig Ganghofer's death in 2020, the association is not planning its own memorial event for Thoma.
Finally, on August 26th, a top-class symposium in the Waitzinger Keller in Miesbach will deal with the poet.
The association recommends its members to attend the event, says Winkler: "Thoma is illuminated in all facets."
jm